Game Thoughts Packers/Saints

That pass interference call on Hawk was BS. That was as athletic a play I’ve seen him make in years. It would have been an ironic end to the game considering Hawk was terrible tonight.

Where was Clay Matthews? He was absent. I did see him being double and at times triple teamed. I know they were keying on him. But our D should have been able to take advantage of that more somehow by sending other pass rushers or by dropping Matthews back. I did see Matthews drop back a few times – but overall, we’re going to have to do a better job w/respect to getting him into the game.

Woodson should have been ejected and Jimmie Graham should have had an offsetting late hit penalty.Graham initiated the whole situation. How they determined that Woodson should get the penalty without also getting ejected makes no sense. The question has to be: did they see Woodson punch Graham or not? If they did, he should have been ejected, but if they didn’t he didn’t do anything besides jawing a bit to get the penalty. Weird refereeing there.

Jimmie Graham is a wanker. His Rodgers’ belt celebration was lame. Tool.

Rodgers and the passing game were unstoppable in the first half – and then McCarthy took his foot off the gas. Fatigue may have been a factor (for both our offense and our defense) in shifting to the running game. Also, it’s possible that another factor was our quality running game.

Randall Cobb may push James Jones and perhaps Jordy, for some playing time as a WR. His receiving TD run was special – he juked that defender out of his jock.

Starks is impressive. He’s stronger, faster and shiftier than Grant. Grant wasn’t bad himself though. It could be a real luxury to have both those guys splitting carries this year.

I now understand why Morgan Burnett is starting. He wasn’t spectacular tonight, but he had 7 tackles and 7 assists. He, along with Bishop made the final stop on Ingram to end the game. That was huge.

Capers made a serious blunder in the last minute when he called a blitz for Hawk and Bishop after Brees and company had been in a hurry up offense. Both of those guys and the other 3 pass rushers were exhausted and they took forever to even get past the line of scrimmage – the point at which the ball was out of Brees’ hand. Meanwhile, the Saints had like 8 WRs out for the pass and Brees had no trouble completing a 20+ yard pass over the middle – the space vacated by Bishop and Hawk. Bringing a fresher corner (like Bush who had recently come into the game) would have made more sense.

As you say the interference call was absolute BS. So instead of Hawk’s amazing game-saving play being all over ESPN today, and commemorated in the Packers’ year-end DVD . . . it just gets forgotten. I assume the ref who made the call will be somehow reprimanded or disciplined in the coming week.

The Saints spent the first quarter sending pressure. They sent 6 guys a bunch and 7 one time I saw. They are really good at this type of defense scheme and yet they paid dearly for it. Rodgers and weapons chewed them up. Note to league…that is not going to work.

They switched it up the end of the 2nd quarter and 2nd half playing two deep shell coverage (Tampa 2) and making the Packers methodically drive down the field. This was a more effective strategy with better results even making the Packers punt a few times. They essentially followed the Bear’s strategy against the Packers the last two years. I think going forward this is what the Packers offense will face. Cue the running the game, Finley, and the short passing game. I was happy how the Packers responded to it tonight. They ran well. Rodgers took the short stuff. They had a few very important long drives for TD’s. Can they do it better against the Bears that run the best Tampa 2 in the league?

Starks is by far a better runner then Grant. He has better vision, more burst, breaks more tackles, and is more powerful. But, and this is a big but, he missed a few pick-ups last night and that will keep him on the bench more then his running ability suggests.

Cobb is going to be special.

Jones was a non-factor and was off the field for most snaps. We’re paying him a lot of money to be our 5th receiving option (Driver, Jennings, Jordy, Finley, and Cobb) and maybe the 6th by the end of the year. I smell a trade.

I think the defense played against the #2 offense in the league. Brees was outstanding last night and they have a well coached team and a bunch of weapons. Just an outstanding offense they played last night. Packers own the tie-break with them now and I think they will need it in the playoffs. The Saints will win that division.

Raji and Pickett are beasts in the middle. They dominated Kreutz and their pro-bowl guards last night.

I was happy not to hear Burnett’s name all that much last night. I was worried about him in coverage but I didn’t see any mental mistakes from him like in pre-season.

Tramon William’s injury looked harsh. Just the way he was holding the arm I fear a broken arm or separated shoulder. Damit Hawk…make the tackle and Williams doesn’t have to make that tackle.

Rodgers showed me a little too much dick factor in his post game pressor. He was snarky with his answers driving home the point that off-season workouts were silly. Let it go Rodgers…your play made your point. It makes you look small to be so snarky about it after the fact.

It was nice to see the offense get off to a fast start. NO is very good at making in game adjustments so I’m not (overly) concerned with the offense slowing down after the first quarter. Getting a fast start was an issue last season so it is nice to see a big step forward this year. It was also nice to see the ball get distributed around a lot. No keying in on Finley or Jennings. And the run game is definitely legitimate.

Cobb was just amazing on his TD return. We might actually have a return game for the first time in forever.

Defense was a little off. Lots of missed tackles. But NO is a good team. And with Tramon being injured (really hoping it isn’t serious) that didn’t help. I actually think the defense might have been more affected by the shortened off season than the offense. Hopefully Capers will make some adjustments, guys will learn from tonight and we see some improvement next week.

I have to agree – this was a good win against a strong team. Lots to be excited about this year, but some concerns as well. The tackling (or lack thereof) left much to be desired. But they got the job done with the game on the line and that’s what counts. Did the Saints choose to run on the last play because the Packer’s developed too strong of a streak last year of winning games on the last play with an interception or broken up pass?

On another note – the atmosphere in Green Bay last night was absolutely electric. It’s a shame that Green Bay will never host a Super Bowl; last night showed that GB would do a fine job. Anyone know if Jerry Jones was in attendance, taking notes??

Very disappointed with Matthews, Hawk and Woodson, thought they would all have a great game. As for that Upper Cut Woodson should have been ejected, he knows better. He’ll be pulling his cheque book out when the Commish calls.

To eject a player for throwing a punch three things have to occur (and even if all three things occur – it is still a discretionary decision for the ref.)

1. there has to be a punch
2. the ref has to find that the punch was “flagrant”
3. the ref has to have seen the entire altercation

Section 2 of Rule 12 reads:
STRIKING, KICKING, OR KNEEING OPPONENT

Article 1 All players are prohibited from:

(a) striking with the fists;

(b) kicking or kneeing; or

(c) striking, swinging, or clubbing to the head, neck, or face with the heel, back, or side of the hand, wrist, arm, elbow, or clasped hands. See 12-2-3.

(d) grabbing the inside collar of the back of the shoulder pads or jersey, or the inside collar of the side of the shoulder pads or jersey, and immediately pulling down the runner. This does not apply to a runner who is in the tackle box or to a quarterback who is in the pocket.

Note: It is not necessary for a player to pull the runner completely to the ground in order for the act to be illegal. If his knees are buckled by the action, it is a foul, even if the runner is not pulled completely to the ground.

Penalty: For fouls in a, b, c, and d: Loss of 15 yards. If any of the above acts is judged by the official(s) to be flagrant, the offender may be disqualified as long as the entire action is observed by the official(s).

So in light of what the rule actually says, I say the call to not eject Woodson was a fair call.

Funny what a Super Bowl win does to my rooting interest… Don’t care a thing about style points, we know they are good enough, just want to see a win.

That said, Starks stood out- he is just so much more physically imposing than Grant. I still think Grant is useful, and in a perfect world the running game is similar to the Giants a few years ago when they used Jacobs to batter defenses (Starks), D Ward to slice defenses (Grant) and Bradshaw to spin them around (Green). Again, thanks to TT for the embarrassment of riches.

I really hope Tramon is okay. He is one of the 4 or 5 most important guys on the team considering how they like to play D. Nice to see Bush respond well when he came in, but time will expose him.

I really think Brees has gotten a huge pass for failing to spike the ball when they got to the 20 with about 30 seconds to go. By opting to rush to the line then dumping it to Sproles they cost themselves at least 3 plays. I guess they still ended up with a great chance to tie it, but I was shocked at that clock management. If I was a saints fan I would have been screaming at the TV.

Calvin Manningham and ?
I hate my Austin pick. I knew when picking him, its a bad pick. Regret big time. Have had him last 2 years. Plax is playing Dallas whose really thin at CB.. but it’s a gamble for the 1st game. But Austin hasn’t played all pre season so I’m not sure.

RB is tough too. I like the Lions this year (didnt’ plan to end up with 3 players but thats how it ended up haha). JC and Jahvid? or JC and Beanie? Both sound very good.

My other one, I think I drafted a very good team.

1 qb 2 wr 2 rb 1 te 1qb/wr/rb/te 1 def 1 kicker 2 dplayers

I started Rodgers
Have Fitz and Maclin at WR
Have Steven Jackson and Fred Jackson at RB at moment.
Gates at TE
Julio Jones is in my flex right now

Have Philly in Def, Rackers at Kicker, Jerrod Mayo and Derrick Johnson at D.

I think Fred Jackson is a gamble, but I didn’t start Sproles so I haven’t got much choice now. Ronnie Brown, is great depth should Mccoy go down. I think fred could do well, so we will see how it turns out.

Started 3 WRs, but should Floyd be in? Julio is a big gamble. But I like his chances this year, could be a breakout rookie.

I like both my teams (2nd one is 14 team league – I think its better than my 1st team, a 10 team league).

Travis –
* I’d start Stafford in this game, though Kolb was a smart draft pick – he could do damage this year.
* your WR situation is tough. definitely Calvin, and I guess I’d probably order the rest of them this way for Week 1: Plax, Breaston, Austin (assuming he’ll draw Revis), Manningham. I drafted Breaston too and think he could be a quiet steal, but I just don’t know if he’ll make noise in Game 1. Outside of Calvin, I can see Breaston or Manningham having the most catches, but i can see Plax and maybe Austin scoring a TD. Thought about it just a bit more – I’d go with Plax. On Sunday night, Sept 11 anniversary in NY – he’ll be so pumped and I can see Rex calling an end zone play or two for him. It’s a gamble but the other 3 would be too.
* for RB I’d definitely go with JC and Beanie. Wells is going to be good in AZ this year and Carolina, while coached by a quality D coordinator in Ron Rivera, won’t be able to slow him down. Best wouldn’t be a bad option but I think the match-up definitely favors Beanie. (I’m starting him this week – drafted him fairly high.)
* Fred Jackson is a bit of a gamble but I think he’ll get a fair number of touches so he should get some yards, catches and maybe a TD. Besides, I think Buffalo will come ready to play in this game.
* Only possible change you might consider is subbing in Floyd for Jones. I like Julio Jones but the going could be tough for Atlanta in Chicago. While I’m not overly impressed with Chicago’s secondary, I think this could be a bit of a struggle for Jones. Meanwhile, Floyd is at home against a questionable Vikes secondary – and he likely won’t draw Antoine Winfield – Jackson will. I think Jones will be the better WR this year, but Floyd may have the better matchup Week 1.

Those are good points. Although I think Manningham will put up some tds this year.

Austin I think won’t score much this year. He’ll rack up some yards, but Dez and Witten are going to steal his fame.

I’m thinking Calvin and Manningham plus one more. Possibly Plax. I just don’t know, a lot of uncertainty.

And Floyd over Julio could be smart. Early in the season, gotta let Julio get things rolling.

Lot of potential here, but risk and uncertainty has come with it, especially the first week not knowing where things stand with a lot of players and teams.

I got Breaston real late, and even Wells pretty late too. Had hoped to get Wells going into the draft, glad I was able to. Got lots of sleepers on my team that I wanted, now lets hope they all wake up and let loose.